Getting To Mr. Right: Choosing a Book Cover

We all know that a lot of people judge a book by its cover. I the first. Therefore, I did a lot of analyzing before selecting this cover from the several interesting options Miruna Radulescu, a graphic designer, presented to me.

To add to the difficulty, mid way through the process, I changed the title of my novel from The Dating Club to Getting To Mr. Right. Here’s what Miruna had to say about this:

After you gave the new title, wheels got into motion again and came up with the two other ideas. It’s amazing how a title can have such a different concept behind it!

Finally, I decided on this cover for these reasons:

The image of the suitcase represents a journey of leaving behind the past in order to go towards the future. This is an important theme of the novel.

The suitcase also represents baggage which we all carry with us. The novel focuses on father/daughter relationships and its impact on a daughter’s adult love relationships. The stickers on the tattered suitcase are memories of these past relationships.

I like that the reader does not see the age nor what the woman on the cover looks like. I felt that this, hopefully, would draw the reader in by identifying with the character.

I also like the hilly road, symbolizing the ups and downs of relationships, which is present throughout the novel.

Finally, I found the cover had a mood of serenity and optimism to it. Something which I tried to convey in the novel.

As a bonus, which I did not expect, Miruna put Mr. in smaller letters than the rest of the cover title. It’s not that I think a Mr. is not important to a woman’s life. After all, my novel is largely about meeting Prince Charming. But through the novel, these women learn that Mr. Right is merely a cherry on the Sundae of their lives.

Here are some topics I’ll be posting (not necessarily in this order) that are connected to Getting to Mr. Right:

Maria, you’re the first one to comment on the title. What I also like about the title which I forgot to mention in the post is that Mr. is in smaller letters so what the reader catches is Getting to Right, which is what the 4 characters in the novel do about their lives.

I like how you managed to integrate various meanings and levels both in the title and the cover. Nice touch underlining Mr. while writing it in smaller letters, I think it captures the complexity of the matter and the fact that it will be dealt with from various angles.

Super cover. I love the quietness of the colours and the way it takes a while to ‘read’ it. So you see the title straight away, but you have to run your eye of over the illustration to make out the suitcase and the girl/woman holding it. For what it is worth, the word ‘dating’ in the title would have put me off – it suggests teen fiction. When is it coming out?

I really like this Carol and look forward to your upcoming posts. I have to tell you that ironically, my new book cover also involves a suitcase with words, being carried. How ironic is this? My new books is an anthology of essays on self-esteem. It is called ‘Words We Carry’, so the suitcase was also fitting for my book. How bizarre?

What are the odds? It blew me away when I saw your cover lol. Yes, we must think a lot alike. Thanks for your compliment and great move on your title change. I think it’s more captivating! Maybe we can do book releases on each other’s blog when they come out? 🙂

I LOVE the cover. You two did a beautiful job! I’m late arriving at this important realization…that a daughter’s relationship with her father carries weight in her “romantic” relationships. Can’t wait to read your take on this important issue/journey.

I’m really pleased, Ann, that you love the cover. Yes, Miruna did a great job. My using the father/daughter relationship started with one of the characters who is doing a study on the subject and eventually it evolved to include the three other characters and their relationships with their fathers. In all cases, the father is either physically and/or emotionally absent or is overbearingly controlling. It is how the women deal with this relationship that allows them to move forward or not.
I hope that I’ll have done fictional justice to the non-fictional research on this issue.

Hello dear Carol, I know first hand all about the book cover process as my wife is a graphic designer. She mostly designs covers for a Norwegian publishing house with rather grim topics. I wish you every success with your new book, I will check it out and leave a review if it is for sale yet. Take care 🙂